Stocks turn negative as tech bounce from tariff exemptions fizzles, Dow erases 500-point gain: Live updates
Stocks experienced another choppy session on Monday as a rally in tech names following a surprise U.S. tariff exemption from President Donald Trump faded.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 43 points, or 0.1%, a sharp turn after rallying more than 500 points at session highs. The S&P 500 traded near flat despite at one point gaining more than 1%. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.2% after surging 2.5% earlier in the day.
Investors initially cheered Trump’s exemption of smartphones and computers, as well as other devices and components like semiconductors, from his new “reciprocal” tariffs, according to new U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance issued late Friday.
But Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then suggested Sunday that the exemptions aren’t permanent, stirring up more tariff uncertainty. Trump said in a Truth Social post that these products are still “subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”
Still, Apple
jumped more than 3%. Yet the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) traded only marginally higher, weighed down by slides in Meta, Nvidia and Amazon.The developments come as the “Magnificent Seven” and broader market have come under pressure in the wake of the president’s “liberation day” tariff announcement earlier this month.
Last week marked one of the most volatile trading weeks on record for the Street. The CBOE Volatility Index spiked above 50 on Thursday, with stocks giving up some of their historic gains seen a day earlier. On Wednesday, the market soared after Trump announced a 90-day reprieve for a number of his new tariff rates, seeing its third-biggest one-day gain since World War II.
Despite last week’s rally, all three major averages are still down sharply since the so-called reciprocal tariffs were announced. The S&P 500 has dropped 4%, while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average have fallen about 3.4% and 3.8%, respectively.
“The question a lot of investors are asking, ‘Is this it – is the bottom in?’” said Dave Sekera, chief U.S. market strategist at Morningstar. “It’s certainly possible, but I don’t think so.”